Daughter of Smoke & Boneby Laini Taylor

This book is one of the darkest, most peculiar, most beautiful stories I have ever read. It just gets better each time you read it. The first time, I enjoyed it and admired its creativity. The second time, I was enthralled from beginning to end. The third, I reveled in every word, delighting in tiny details.

Karou is a fascinating, mysterious character. She is artistic and Bohemian, with blue hair and tattoos. She is a loyal friend, yet she keeps many secrets. Those secrets are almost the whole point of the story – the gradual revelations both to the reader and to Karou herself. The lure of the secrets is seductive, beginning with hints of magic. And then Karou's world closes around you, and there is no escaping even if you wished to.

Oh, the weird and wonderful world of chimeras and angels, where teeth can be traded for wishes in a dark corner of Prague. With so many YA fantasy novels, it can be difficult to find one that is truly original, but Daughter of Smoke and Bone is one.

I can't compare Karou's world to other fantasy realms, because there aren't any that are similar. It's a dark and dangerous world, filled with sharp claws and bright feathers, beautiful and terrifying to behold.

Speaking of beautiful and terrifying, Akiva, the avenging angel, is fierce and golden but empty. Until he tries to kill a girl with blue hair. Oh, Akiva. It is easy to fall for him, to weep for him, or rage at him. He has become one of my favorite heroes, in part because he is not particularly heroic. He makes mistakes – terrible, awful mistakes – and yet I still want to see him happy in the end.

This book is a fantastical escape to a world of forbidden love, tragedy, second chances, and twisted, mesmerizing magic. You should really read it. Right now.